Lancair LC41 N166PD

Summary

On 27 August 2003 at about 17:45 local time, a Lancair LC41 registered N166PD was involved in an accident near Bend, Oregon, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 August 2003 at 17:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Bend, Oregon, United States

Coordinates

43.8789, -120.9214

Aircraft

Lancair LC41

Registration

N166PD

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Flight Test

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bend → Bend

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA03LA180

Nobody was injured.

The inadequate design of the drogue chute mechanical jettison system, which resulted in its failure to separate from the aircraft during in-flight spin recovery tests, and the incorrectly wired drogue chute cable cutter activation unit, which resulted in the inability of the pilot to activate the backup chute separation system after any failure of the primary system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot, who had been conducting a series of spin entry and recovery tests, had intentionally entered a spin while applying left rudder and left aft stick. Because his flight control inputs did not result in recovery from the spin after three and one-half turns, he deployed the spin recovery/stabilization drogue parachute. Once the aircraft was established in an attitude from which the pilot could maintain controlled flight once the parachute was released, he pulled the drogue chute manual jettison handle. At that point, because the chute did not release, the pilot activated the electrical backup jettison system. When that action did not release the parachute, the pilot tried the electrical system a second time, and finding that this action did not release the chute, he tried the manual release a second time. At that point, because the parachute still remained attached, the pilot applied engine power in an attempt to establish controlled flight with the parachute in trail. Once he determined that the aircraft could not be satisfactorily flown in that configuration, he exited the aircraft and deployed his emergency parachute. During the investigation it was determined that the drogue chute either became entangled in the drogue chute tail boom after release from the tow hook mechanism, or it did not release from the tow hook mechanism when the pilot tried to activate it, but instead was released by the forces created by the impact with the terrain. It was also determined that the chute release system was not flight-load tested on this specific aircraft prior to the in-flight activation. Furthermore it was determined that the backup electrically activated cable guillotine system was wired incorrectly, and could not have been activated by the pilot in flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.